Apparatus for the metered emptying of a package containing a viscous material

ABSTRACT

A metering apparatus for emptying a package containing a viscous material, which apparatus comprises a frame ( 1 ) with a substantially flat supporting surface, on which a package ( 6 ) manufactured from a flexible foil material can be positioned, and a metering control means ( 2, 3, 4 ), which can empty the package by means of activation. The package ( 6 ) can be squeezed nipwise by cooperation with the supporting surface, starting from a first end in the direction of an opposite second end, by moving the metering control means, for instance a roller or rod, relative to the package, while through at least one discharge opening ( 6   d ) at the second end the viscous material is expelled from the package and the nipwise squeezing can be continued until at least the discharge opening ( 6   d ).

[0001] The invention relates to an assembly comprising a package and an apparatus for metered emptying of the package containing a viscous material and being squeezable including at least one discharge opening by being at least partly manufactured from a flexible sheet-like foil material, which apparatus comprises a frame and a metering control means to be coupled therewith for emptying the package, which frame comprises a flat supporting surface for supporting the package, which, starting from a first end, can be squeezed nipwise in the direction of an opposite second end provided with the at least one discharge opening for dispensing the Viscous material by a relative movement between the package and the motoring control means. The invention further relates to a package for use in such an assembly.

[0002] Such an assembly is known from DE-U 86 08 053, where a sausage-like package is laid in a box-shaped frame with a flat bottom. The discharge opening is situated in a spout which, directed upwardly, is laid against a wall of the frame extending perpendicularly to the bottom. After cutting away the end of the spout the contents are to be expelled from the package by means of a cylindrical body to be rolled over the bottom. The rolling movement of the cylindrical body is confined by a bottom bent upwardly on the side of the spout and ending before the wall against which the spout lies. This has the result that the package cannot he emptied completely, which not only means a loss of material, but also additional chemical waste which has to be processed in a relatively laborious and expensive manner.

[0003] Further, U.S. Pat. No. 2,830,784, DE-A-2 061 850 and FR-A-1.252.743, disclose apparatuses intended for emptying a tube with a cap. The same problem is encountered with such an assembly, i.e. the package cannot be emptied completely, because at the threaded discharge opening of the package is of a relatively stiff construction. The same problem occurs with an assembly as known from FR-A-2 443 975, when a tube toothpaste placed in a hanging apparatus is emptied.

[0004] The object of the invention is to design an assembly of the type described in the opening paragraph such that the problems discussed rarely, if ever, occur.

[0005] This is achieved according to the invention when the discharge opening is situated on the flat supporting surface and the metering control means being movable with respect to the package from said first end to at least the at least one discharge opening for thoroughly emptying the package by completely squeezing the package including the at least one discharge opening. Through these measures it becomes simply, but very effectively possible to completely empty the package. In addition, the available supporting surface forms a very suitable base for effecting a highly controlled and accurately metered emptying by nipwise squeezing the package from one side to the other, so that material is hardly, if at all, left on the inner walls of the package. Through this mode of operation the area where the viscous material leaves the flexible package is emptied very thoroughly, so that, in fact, after consumption of the material contained in the package on a minor amount of foil material is left, which not only results in a more environmentally friendly, but also in a relatively cheaper solution.

[0006] With a plurality of packages the contents thereof are directly suitable for the intended consumption. In a number of other applications a specific amount of expelled viscous mass needs to be mixed with a specific amount of another viscous mass so as to obtain a product suitable for consumption. In such cases, using the regular, controlled and complete emptying of the package, a very advantageous assembly can be obtained according to a further embodiment of the invention if the package is longitudinally divided into at least two mutually separated compartments, which are situated on the frame lengthwise in a longitudinal direction of the supporting surface, and the metering control means is designed and positioned with a pressure line for the nipwise squeezing of the package extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the supporting surface. By adjusting the cross-sections of the compartments to the required mixing ratio it can be effected through a simple operation of the apparatus that each time exactly the correct relative amounts of viscous mass are dispensed from the compartments to obtain an optimum mixture, while, moreover, the supporting surface connecting to the discharge opening may serve as a mixing surface, if so desired.

[0007] In embodiments of the assembly according to the invention in which for emptying the package the metering control means is moved over the supporting surface and the package lying thereon, fixing elements are preferably provided, with which the package can be arrested relative to the supporting surface. For this a clamping strip may be considered, but also projections or hooks which extend through holes suitably provided in the package; of course without creating an access to the interior of the package.

[0008] Instead of moving the metering control means over the package lying on the supporting surface, it is also possible to move the package over the supporting surface. To this end, for instance, it may be ensured that the metering control means comprises a spindle for winding up the package in emptied form, while during metering the package moves backwards over the supporting surface

[0009] The package may have various forms, for instance a sausage form. Such a package can now be emptied nearly completely, because it is completely squeezed flat and is no longer wrinkled together. Preferably, however, the package for use in an assembly according to the invention has a flat bag-shaped shaped configuration. Such a package can be formed from a tubular foil which is laid down flat and is sealed in this form at the ends; of course after having filling it with the material to be metered. Another possibility is that the package is formed from two sheet-like parts which are bonded together along their longitudinal edges and according to two strips located transversely thereto, at a distance from each other.

[0010] If it is to be prevented that the expelled viscous material falls on the supporting surface, then this can be simply ensured by extending the package with a slab-shaped part moving over the supporting surface. According to a farther elaboration of this idea it may be ensured that the supporting surface forms part of an elongated frame part and the package is extended with a loop-shaped part to an endless shell pant which fits tautly around the elongated frame part. In this embodiment one of the edges of the supporting surface may serve as nip-former, because when pulling over this edge the walls of the package are intimately pressed together and thus displace the viscous material, that is to say press it out. If desired, a roller pressing on the package and supported on the supporting surface via the package may of course also be provided.

[0011] The movement of the package over tho supporting surface can be realized in a relatively simple manner if the metering control means comprises a stationary rotatable deflecting roller with which the shell part can be moved over the elongated frame part.

[0012] The arrangement on the apparatus of the package tensioned during use can be easily carried out if according to a further embodiment of the invention the deflecting roller is movable between a placing position in which the shell part can be slid on the elongated frame part and a tensioning position in which the shell part can be moved around the elongated frame part.

[0013] With reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings the assembly according to the invention will now be explained in greater detail, though only by way of example. In these drawings:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of the metering apparatus;

[0015]FIG. 2 is the top plan view of FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a cross-section of a second embodiment;

[0017]FIG. 4 is the left front view of FIG. 3;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a cross-section of a third embodiment;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a side view of the third embodiment;

[0020]FIG. 7 is the left front view of FIGS. 5 and 6;

[0021]FIG. 8 is a side view of a fourth embodiment;

[0022]FIG. 9 is a side view of a modified detail of the embodiment of FIG. 8;

[0023]FIG. 10 is a side view of another modified detail of the embodiment of FIG. 8; and

[0024]FIG. 11 is a side view of a part of a fifth embodiment.

[0025] The metering apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a plate-shaped supporting part 1, to which a substantially U-shaped handle 2 is pivotably attached near the end which, seen in the figures, is the left end. Of a substantially U-shaped supporting arm 3 the free leg ends are pivotably connected to the handle 2, roughly approximately halfway the lengths of the legs of the handle 2. Rotatably mounted on the body part of the supporting arm 3 is a roller 4, the arrangement being such that when the handle 2 is swung back and forth, the roller 4 rolls back and forth in a controlled manner over the upper surface of the supporting part 1. The supporting part 1 is provided near the left end with a plurality of hooks 5 for arresting a package 6, which is manufactured from two sheets of flexible foil material which are mutually connected stripwise, such that two closed and mutually separated spaces 6 a and 6 b are formed for accommodating viscous material. At the left end the strip-like connecting area is provided with a plurality of holes 6 c for attaching the package 6 to the hooks 5. At the right end the spaces 6 a and 6 b each end funnelwise in a mouth 6 d. In the exemplary embodiment shown the two mouths 6 d are opened by cutting away a connecting area comparable to that in which the holes 6 c are provided.

[0026] To empty a package 6 by means of the metering apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2, the package 6, after swinging the handle 2 with supporting arm 3 and roller 4 aside, is laid flat on the supporting part 1, while the hooks 5 are passed through the holes 6 c. Subsequently, the handle 2 is swung such that the roller 4 can be pressed on the package 6 at the beginning of the spaces 6 a and 6 b adjacent the hooks 5. After removing a strip for opening the mouths 6 d, the metering apparatus is ready for use. By swinging the handle 2 to the right while pressing, the roller 4 will roll over the supporting part 1 to the right and squeeze the package 6 held by the hooks 5, which rolling movement becomes possible, because viscous material is simultaneously expelled from the mouths 6 d.

[0027] With such packages the viscous material leaving the two mouths 6 d needs to be collected and mixed. The resulting mixture often must be processed within a short time, if it is not to become useless. In the situation shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the package 6 is approximately half emptied, from which it appears that the emptied part practically or entirely consists of only two compressed foil sheets. Should the contents of the package not be processed in one go, then the mouths must be carefully sealed for intermediate storage. This can be done, for instance, with a screw cap or by one of the methods discussed below.

[0028] Instead of a roller 4, a roller part with a relatively large radius of curvature, which may or may not be constant, can be also used, of which a possible surface to be contacted with the supporting surface is indicated in FIG. 1 by the line 4′. With such a roller part the package 6 can be emptied by means of a rocking-rolling movement. If desired, the relevant roller part can be incorporated in a rocking mechanism which lays down a controlled pressing movement over the supporting surface.

[0029]FIGS. 3 and 4 show a metering apparatus comprising a supporting part 11, which, at the left end, carries two ears 12 for supporting a freely rotatable pressure roller 13 and a winding roller 14 which is rotatable by means of a wing grip 15. A package 16 of the type as described above is provided at the left end with a flat connecting area, such that it can be passed below the pressure roller 13 into the winding roller 14, which is therefore provided with an inlet slot 14 a. Near the right end of the supporting part 11 a clamping strip 17 can be arranged thereon, which comprises a clamping groove 17 a and snapping projections 17 b. The latter can cooperate with snapping edges 11 a, which, as shown in FIG. 4, laterally extend along the supporting part 11. The upper surface of the supporting part is provided with a plurality of grooves 18, with which, as shown in the right part of FIG. 3, the clamping groove 17 a can engage for intimately clamping the package 16. If desired, a clamping strip 17 could also be provided with more than one clamping groove 17 a, in which case the grooves 18 could be omitted. The arrangement of several grooves 18 over the length of the upper surface of the supporting part 11 means that packages of different lengths can be clamped and/or that a package 16 can be emptied portionwise and can be temporarily sealed between times.

[0030] After removing the clamping strip 17 and opening the package 16 along the edge where the clamping strip was situated, the package can be emptied in metered amounts by rotating the winding roller 14 by means of the wing grip 15. Consequently, the package 16 is pulled to the left and wound on the roller 14, while the contents of the package are held in place by the pressure roller 13 relative to the supporting part 11, which has the result that the viscous material contained in the package 16 is expelled therefrom. This material falls on the upper surface of the supporting part 11. If this is to be prevented, then this can be simply realized by designing the lower sheet of the package as a slab-shaped extension.

[0031] When a predetermined portion of viscous material is withdrawn from the package 16, the dispensing part thereof will be situated approximately near a further groove 18. By placing the clamping strip 17 the package 16 can be sealed airtight again. Of course, it is also possible not to provide grooves 18 and/or to design the clamping strip 17 such that it can be snapped fast in any place.

[0032] The metering apparatus shown in FIGS. 5-7 comprises a supporting part 21, which supports two side walls 22 and 23, on which are mounted racks 22 a and 23 a, respectively, and above which are arranged guide grooves 22 b and 23 b, respectively, breaking through the relevant side wall 22, 23. Through the guide grooves 22 b and 23 b extends a shaft 24, on which is mounted a pressure roller 25, which is interposed between the walls 22 and 23. The various dimensions are selected such that the pressure roller 25 can squeeze a package 26. Mounted on the shaft 24 and cooperating with racks 22 a and 23 a are pinions 24 a and 24 b, respectively. By rotating the shaft 24 via a handwheel 27 the pressure roller 25 will be advanced through the rack-and-pinion cooperation while emptying the package 26.

[0033] The package is arrested relative to the supporting part 21 by means of a spring clamp 28 placed at the left end. A closing spring 29 can be placed at the right end for temporarily sealing a partially emptied package 26.

[0034] The operation of the metering apparatus of FIGS. 5-7 resembles that of FIGS. 1 and 2 to such an extent that a further discussion of that operation seems superfluous.

[0035] The metering apparatus shown in FIG. 8 comprises a supporting part 31 with a corrugated upper surface 32. At the right end the supporting part 31 is provided with two side arms 33, between which is supported a tension roller 35 rotatable by means of a handwheel 34. A package 36 is of the type as discussed above, though the lower sheet is extended to a shell-shaped part, which has such a circumferential dimension that in the operating position of the metering apparatus it fits tautly around the supporting part 31 and the tension roller 35. By turning the handwheel 34 such that the package 36 starts rotating in an anti-clockwise direction, the package 36, when pulling over the left upper edge, will be emptied via mouths arranged near the tension roller 35. The expelled viscous material falls on the co-rotating lower sheet of the package 36 and can thus be easily mixed and removed without fling the corrugated upper surface 32. Reliably sealing an opened and partially emptied package 36 is realized by cooperation of a groove in the corrugated upper surface 32 with a wire clamp 37.

[0036] In cases where this is desirable because of the viscous material to be processed, for emptying the package near the left end of the supporting part 31, as shown in FIG. 9, a pressure roller 38 can be arranged, for instance by means of a detachable wire clamp 39 comparable to the wire clamp 37. Furthermore, at the left end of the supporting part 31 a deflecting roller corresponding to the tension roller 35 could be arranged.

[0037] In the embodiment of FIG. 8 the shell part of the package 36 fits tautly around the supporting part 31 and the tension roller 35. To relatively easily bring a package 36 to be placed into this tensioned position, the tension roller 35 may be adjustable between two positions, for instance in the manner shown in FIG. 10. The lower surfaces of the two ears 33 supported by the supporting part 31 are provided with a cam track 40, into which the shaft 35 a of the tension roller 35 extends. The position shown in FIG. 10 represents the tensioned or operating position. By pulling the tension roller 35 to the right and then bringing it down and to the left, which movement is possible due to the elasticity of the package 36, the tension roller 35 can be brought into a placing position, which, relative to the tensioning position, is located farther to the left, with the result that the shell part comes to lie loosely around the supporting part 31 and the tension roller 35, so that a package can be easily removed and placed.

[0038] The metering apparatus partly shown in FIG. 11 comprises a supporting part 41, which, at the left end, carries on both sides an L-shaped supporting arm 42 for supporting a pressure roller 43 and a counter roller 44, which cooperate nipwise, while the pressure roller 43 can be rotated by means of a handwheel 45.

[0039] A package 46 of the type discussed before is placed on the supporting part 41 in lying position, with its left connecting part in the nip between the rollers 43 and 44, after which the package 46 is pulled to the left by turning the handwheel 45 and can thus be emptied, after making an opening on the right side not shown. If desired, the circumferential surfaces of the rollers 43 and 44 can be provided with cooperating profiles.

[0040] It is self-explanatory that within the scope of the invention as laid down in the appended claims, in addition to the possible embodiments shown and the possible modifications discussed in this respect, many further amendments and variants are possible. Thus, in the embodiments shown the various elements pressing on the package are designed as rollers. Although these are preferred, those elements could also be rods, tubes, and the like. Furthermore, reference is always made to a hand-operable activating element. Of course, it could also be an electrically, pneumatically or hydraulically activable member. 

1. An assembly comprising a package and a apparatus for metered emptying of the package containing a viscous material and being squeezable including at least one discharge opening by being at least partly manufactured from a flexible sheet-like foil material, which apparatus comprises a frame and a metering control means to be coupled therewith for emptying the package, which frame comprises a flat supporting surface for supporting the package, which, starting from a first end, can be squeezed nipwise in the direction of an opposite second end provided with the at least one discharge opening for dispensing the viscous material, by a relative movement between the package and the metering control means, characterized in that the discharge opening is situated on the flat supporting surface and the metering control means being movable with respect to the package from said first end to at least the at least one discharge opening for thoroughly emptying the package by completely squeezing the package including the at least one discharge opening.
 2. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the package is longitudinally divided into at least two mutually separated compartments, which are situated on the frame lengthwise in a longitudinal direction of the supporting surface, and the metering control means is designed and positioned with a pressure line for the nipwise squeezing of the package extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the supporting surface.
 3. An assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that fixing elements are provided, with which the package can be arrested relative to the supporting surface.
 4. An assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the package can move over the supporting surface.
 5. An assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that the supporting surface forms part of an elongated frame part and the package is extended with a loop-shaped part to an endless shell part which fits tautly around the elongated frame part.
 6. An assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that the metering control means comprises a stationary rotatable deflecting roller, with which the shell part can be moved over the elongated frame part.
 7. An assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the deflecting roller is movable between a placing position in which the shell part can be slid on the elongated frame part and a tensioning position in which the shell part can be moved around the elongated frame part.
 8. A package for use in an assembly according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the package has a flat bag-shaped configuration.
 9. A package according to claim 8, characterized in that the package is formed from a tubular foil which is laid down flat and is sealed in this form at the ends.
 10. A package according to claim 8, characterized in that the package is formed from two sheet-like parts, which are bonded together along their longitudinal edges and according to two strips located transversely thereto, at a distance from each other.
 11. A package according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that the package is divided in two parallel compartments both ending at a corresponding end in a completely squeezable discharge opening. 